(Image: T&A)
A VETERAN has called for a reduction in the noise levels of fireworks after speaking about the fear he experiences from "unexpected explosions".
John Swaine, of Queensbury, says hearing them transports him back to the streets of Belfast during the Troubles.
The 72-year-old, who served with 45 Medium Regiment Royal Artillery between 1971 and 1980, spent much of his late teens and twenties in Northern Ireland during some of the most turbulent years of the conflict.
'Car bombs going off all the time'
John Swaine has spoken out about his experiences with late night fireworks. (Image: T&A)
“It was an everyday occurrence when we were all young soldiers, 18, 19, 20, listening to never-ending car bombs going off all the time,” he said.
“It was a traumatic experience for a lot of us.
“I mean I’m talking about wild explosions, 200, 500, 600-pound car bombs going off.
“It had a big adverse effect on a lot of us.
“This is what gets me today, the unexpected bangs."
'Hundreds' of veterans face similar experiences
He continued: “If I hear something going off outside and I’m unexpected to it, I’ll flinch and I’ll be down.
“It brings back the memories of what we used to go through and what we used to hear.
“If we hear a big boom, to me it’s a bomb going off.
“It’s just the instant boom and then the fear that drains through you.”
John said the issue affects veterans of all ages who have served in conflicts around the world.
He said: “I’m still involved with a lot of ex-military personnel, and they go through the same experiences.
“I know for a fact in this country there’s hundreds of soldiers who went through similar experiences who are going through traumatic problems with fireworks now.”
'If I'd been there, that would've killed me'
Reflecting on his time in Northern Ireland, John said: “In the early 70s we saw a lot of terrible stuff going on.
“We were only young kids. When I first went I was only 18.”
He recalls multiple bomb attacks in Belfast.
John Swaine during his first tour of Belfast. (Image: John Swaine)
“One had gone off in one street, and we charged to another street and two streets below that another bomb would go off.
“You’d move again and then you’d hear another one go off and you say to yourself, if I had been there, that would’ve killed me.”
For John, loud fireworks do not simply remind him of explosions.
“These bangs that you hear from normal fireworks that are slightly less loud than these big booms always remind us of gunfire,” he said.
“The crack of a firework always sounds like the crack of a bullet from a rifle.
Fireworks can put veterans 'on their knees'
He believes it is difficult for people who have never experienced conflict to understand the reaction such noises can provoke.
“It’s the fear. When we used to hear bombs go off we’d go drip white because we knew if we’d been in the vicinity of those explosions, it would’ve killed us.
“It killed a lot of soldiers.”
John Swaine has spoken out about his experiences with late night fireworks. (Image: T&A)
John says events such as Bonfire Night and New Year’s Eve are easier to manage because there is an expectation that fireworks will be used.
He said: “It’s these times when you don’t know it’s going to happen.
"These are the ones that become really awkward to manage, especially if you’re out and about."
He added: “Let’s just say for instance, I’ve gone out down the road in the car and it’s half past nine, ten o’clock and I get out of the car and suddenly you’re confronted with an immediate explosion.
“It’s a killer.
“It can put you on your knees as an ex-soldier. You go down straight away.”
John Swaine has spoken out about his experiences with late night fireworks. (Image: T&A)
Calls for a ban
John says he has managed to live a normal life despite those memories.
“I’ve got on with my life okay,” he said.
“I’ve managed it because a lot of us vets do.”
John believes restrictions on sales would have little effect because people would still find ways to get hold of fireworks.
Instead, he would like to see either a ban on private use, while retaining organised displays, or a reduction in the noise levels of fireworks available to the public.
He stresses the issue is not organised displays, but unexpected explosions.
“When you’re hearing stuff like that, it’s drawing the fear out of you,” he said.
“It’s a bit difficult for people to understand how you’re feeling, but it’s a terrible feeling.”
What Bradford Council is doing
Earlier this year, Bradford Council launched its "Bang Out of Order" campaign to highlight the nuisance and distress caused by the anti-social use of fireworks.
The authority said fireworks can affect people with conditions such as PTSD and has called for tougher laws, including lower legal noise limits.